Guterres: UN recognizes only Maduro as legitimate president of Venezuela

The UN refuses to position itself in favor of the main actor of the coup, Juan Guaidó, and says that Venezuela acts in coordination with the government recognized by the member countries. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, confirmed on Thursday that the States of the General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) recognize Nicolás Maduro as constitutional and legitimate president of Venezuela. Therefore, the official refused to position himself in favor of the interests of the deputy of the National Assembly (AN) -in contempt-, Juan Guaidó, who on January 23 proclaimed himself “president in charge” unconstitutionally. The opposition leader wrote to Guterres on Saturday, January 26, to ask for the implementation of “support mechanisms” to address what he called “humanitarian crisis” in the Bolivarian Republic. In his response, Dujarric asserted on Thursday that the UN is willing to continue cooperating in development activities in Venezuela, counting on the consent of the government of President Nicolás Maduro, the only government it recognizes. The spokesman stressed that the recognition of governments is not a function of the General Secretariat of the UN, but of the member states, and that in its relationship with the other member states respects “the decisions” of the General Assembly and the Security Council. Regarding the detention in Venezuela of three journalists from the Spanish news agency Efe, Dujarric considered it “crucial” that journalists “can report with freedom and their rights are fully respected”, in Venezuela as in any other country. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza on Thursday blamed the arrests on the media he accused of sending his employees without complying with the law to “then make a scandal” against the government. The director of the agency Efe reported on his Twitter account of the release of the detainees. The UN spokesman also welcomed the initiative of Mexico and Uruguay to convene an international meeting with the aim of launching a political dialogue in Venezuela. “Obviously the international community can play a key role in facilitating inclusive agreements”, affirmed the spokesman, who said they expect details for the meeting that Guterres will hold with the representatives of Mexico and Uruguay. Venezuela is experiencing days of great turbulence due to Guaidó’s self-proclaimed interim president, with US support, despite Maduro, legally elected in the last presidential elections of 2018, began his second term on January 10. Although some western and Latin American countries allied with Washington have recognized Guaidó, others like Bolivia, Cuba, Mexico, Russia, Iran, China, Turkey and Syria have announced their full support to the Government of Venezuela.